Revenge is Best Served Cold

Tomko Exacts His Revenge

Filed Under: Yankees

Tags: a.j. burnett • Alex Rodriguez • Andrew Bailey • Brett Tomko • Mark Ellis • Oakland Athletics • Scott Hairston • Yankees 8/17 recap • Yankees vs. A's

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	7	0
Oakland	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	X		3	6	0

WP - Tomko (2-2) SV - Bailey (18) LP - Burnett (10-6)

Let’s not beat around the bush, Brett Tomko was, is, and will always be a mediocre pitcher. The Yankees finally came to that realization on July 21 and designated Tomko for assignment. He wasn’t happy. Last night, Tomko got a measure of revenge, tossing 5 scoreless innings in a 3-0 Oakland A’s win over the Yankees. It was Tomko’s first win since July 4…when he was a Yankee.

Don’t be mistaken, the Yankees had their opportunities against their former teammate, but couldn’t cash in. Mark Teixeira laced a 2-out double in the 1st, but was stranded when Alex Rodriguez flew out. Birthday boy (38) Jorge Posada led off the 2nd inning with a single, but got no further than 1st base. Derek Jeter and Ramiro Pena started the 3rd with consecutive singles and moved up a base on Johnny Damon’s fly out. But after a walk to Teixeira, A-Rod bounced into an inning ending 1-2-3 double play.

A.J. Burnett breezed through the first three innings, but after getting the lead off man in the 4th, ran into trouble. Rajai Davis doubled, stole 3rd base, and scored on Kurt Suzuki’s single. Scott Hairston followed with a single and the runners moved up on a ground out. That’s when Burnett decided to hold on to the baseball. The only problem was that he was already in his delivery. The balk made it a 2-0 game.

From Josh Dubow, AP: “We got crossed up with the signs,” Burnett said. “He wanted a fastball in and I thought I was throwing a curve away. When I saw him move it messed me up. There was no way I could throw that pitch.”

Mark Ellis‘ RBI double finished off the scoring for the inning and for the evening. Burnett went the distance, his 100th pitch being his last. But the Yankees offense was flat and quickly went in order in the 9th against closer Andrew Bailey.

Game Notes

The Yankees 14-game homer streak came to an end. It was the longest streak since a 16-game streak in 1994. It was the 4th time this season the Yankees have been blanked.

Nick Swisher has reached base safely in 26 straight games.

The series continues tonight with CC Sabathia facing Vin Mazzaro.